Kelly Ziemer teaches several courses in the Bachelors and Masters program and is affiliated with the Developmental and Educational Psychology department.

More information about Kelly Ziemer

Kelly Ziemer teaches several courses in the Bachelors and Masters program and is affiliated with the Developmental and Educational Psychology department.

Research on self-love discourse

Ziemer explores the discourse of self-love on social media and within conversations about alcohol and others drugs (AOD) recovery. 

Additionally, she conducts research with the KiDLab on the Schools2030 project, funded by the Jacobs Foundation and conducted in the Kyrgyz Republic, which aims to understand structural factors and teachers’ role in reducing inequality in the classroom.

Teaching

• Psychodiagnostics
• Advanced Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Clinical Internship Supervision (Internal & External)
• Masters Thesis Supervision

Short CV

Ziemer is a Sector UD in Resilience in Youth and brings to her research and teaching a social justice and clinical lens. She is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), and a psychotherapist specializing in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), EMDR, intuitive techniques, and mindfulness-based interventions. Recently award Grassroots and Grass-shoots grants, Ziemer has developed modules on self-care and coping for Masters in Psychology students and plans to expand this offering with a podcast and panel focusing on sharing narratives of self-care experiences.

Since finishing her PhD in Social Welfare from the University of California-Berkeley, she joined the Schools2030 project through the University of Amsterdam's Research Institute of Child Development and Education and became an Assistant Professor in Developmental and Educational Psychology in Leiden University.

In 2013, she completed her Master of Social Work from CUNY-Hunter College, USA. Prior to pursuing the social work profession, Ziemer worked as a consultant for 10 years and received her MSc in International Business from SKEMA Business School, France in 2009.

Grants and awards

• 2025-2026: Grass-shoots Grant
• 2024-2025: Grassroots Grant for Innovation in Education
• 2019-2022: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIH)
• 2019  Early Career Researcher Poster Award, ISRE Conference

Publications